What can you do when you are asked to do a potentially dangerous or odd tasks, unrelated to your main job duties?

Question

What do you do when you are asked to do a task that is outside of your area of expertise?

Specific example - originally hired as a ported at a car dealership. You are asked to remove floor tile from an office. This is a bit dangerous - you can get cut, you do not have training as a handyman. You are not given the right tools (gloves, dust mask, etc).

Can you refuse this task? Can you ask for the tools? Can you get fired if you refuse? If this type of stuff happens consistently, should you just look for another job?

Answer 1

Can you refuse this task?

Yes you can.

You can also most likely be terminated too. Take a look at your employment contract, employee handbook, etc. Most companies have this little clause "and other duties as necessary" that is designed to be a catch all for other miscellaneous crap the company may need you to do.

You might want to check with your local government employment agency too.

Can you ask for the tools?

Absolutely. If you are serious about keeping the job, and your employer is serious about the task they asked you to complete, they should not object to supplying the tools you need. If they do, this is a serious red flag.

Can you get fired if you refuse?

In the USA, unless you are in a union or somehow protected by a contract, you can be fired for refusing to do a task in most states. (Search up right to work states for more details)

If this type of stuff happens consistently, should you just look for another job?

I certainly would look for other work ASAP. It is a jerk move to hire you for what you applied for originally only to be asked to do some serious manual labor.

Answer 2

You are not given the right tools (gloves, dust mask, etc).

You probably need to look at OSHA Regulations. The issue isn't that it's unrelated to your job description, it's that it's a safety hazard. There's contact information on their site you can use to ask questions and find out what your rights are.

You are asked to remove floor tile from an office.

You might also look into whether you're required to be licensed and bonded to perform this sort of work. I don't know whether this rises to the level of needing it (the floor tile and anything else being requested) or if the fact that you work directly for the person requesting it means it's moot. Unfortunately, I don't know enough about this to suggest where to look. Hopefully someone else can speak to this.

If this type of stuff happens consistently, should you just look for another job?

It sounds like you haven't actually tried to push back on this yet. If you get the sense that this is a matter of your boss being ignorant of the law but otherwise a reasonable person, you could try talking to them first after doing the research above. If you think that they don't care (and the fact that they haven't given you any PPE implies this) you should skip straight to job hunting, especially if it turns out none of the tasks you're being given require any certification/license/etc to perform.

Answer 3

According to OSHA, you have a right to refuse unsafe work. However, as @MisterPositive suggested, you can (and should according to the regulation) absolutely ask your employer for the right tools. This is part of your duty to:

Ask your employer to correct the hazard, or to assign other work.